Retaining wall

• US 9,670,640 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2016
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Les Materiaux de Construction Oldcastle Canada Inc
• Original Assignee: Les Materiaux de Construction Oldcastle Canada Inc
• Inventors: Daoust, Robert, Castonguay, Bertin, Lacas, Marc-Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Cajilig, Christine T
• Application Number:
  US14/994,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20160130780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 510 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0225 comprising retention means in the backfill
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0233 the retention means being anchors details of anchors E02D5/80
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/025 made up of similar modular elements stacked without mortar
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/84 Walls made by casting, pouring, or tamping in situ E04B2/02, E04B2/56 take precedence; forms therefor E04G11/06; working of concrete or similar masses able to be cast or poured in situ E04G21/02
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/8641 using dovetail-type connections
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/0239 Round dovetails
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/0247 Strips or bars
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/0265 Building elements for making arcuate walls
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/867 Corner details
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2002/8676 Wall end details
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 1/395 for claustra, fences, planting walls, e.g. sound-absorbing pots for vertical horticulture A01G9/022

Abstract

Disclosed is an economical and effective way of producing a modular retaining wall for a material to be retained, using backer blocks and facing blocks which are stacked into continuous front and back wall components connected by separate connectors in a back to back, spaced apart arrangement, thereby forming a hollow retaining wall. The hollow wall is filled with loose filler material to increase the mass and retaining capacity of the wall. None of the wall components is embedded in the material to be retained. The facing blocks, connectors and filler material are all separated from the material to be retained by the backer blocks. Further disclosed are wall components and a wall kit for a modular retaining wall. A double sided decorative wall is also disclosed. The modular wall system allows for the construction both straight and curved retaining walls.

Claims

1. A modular wall system for constructing a freestanding retaining wall for retaining a loose material of a predetermined height, the retaining wall having a rear face for placement against the loose material to be retained, an exposed front face and a predetermined base width and total mass per unit length sufficient for maintaining the retaining wall upright against a pressure exerted by the loose material at the preselected height, the system comprising

backer blocks stackable against the loose material and into a continuous rear wall portion of the preselected height, for forming the rear face, the rear wall portion having a first mass;

facing blocks stackable into a continuous front wall portion of the preselected height for forming the front face, the front wall portion having a second mass, a sum of the first and second mass being less than the total mass;

connectors for connecting each facing block in the front wall portion with at least one backer block in the rear wall portion to form an intermediate hollow space of fixed volume between the front and back wall portions, the fixed volume being defined by the preselected height of the retaining wall and a length of the connectors, the intermediate space being separated from the loose material by the rear wall portion;

one or more setback plugs for engagement with the retaining structures to create a setback for facing blocks or backer blocks in consecutive rows; and

an amount of loose filler material of a known density for filling the fixed volume, the length of the connectors being selected for a width of the retaining wall being at least equal to the base width and the amount of loose filler material having an overall third mass constituting at least the remainder of the total mass;

wherein the connectors each have a connector body with at least two connecting ends for respective interlocking engagement with a facing block and backer block and each of the facing and backer blocks having multiple spaced apart retaining structures for respectively receiving one of the connecting ends, the connector body being rod or web shaped for minimizing a volume taken up by the connectors in the intermediate space and maximizing a volume of the filler material in the intermediate space.

2. The modular wall system of claim 1, wherein the connectors are constructed to be longitudinally rigid and laterally flexible.

3. The modular wall system of claim 2, wherein the facing blocks have a first width, the backer blocks have a second width, and the connectors have a length exceeding the sum of the first and second width.

4. The modular wall system of claim 3, wherein the retaining structures are one of a retaining protrusion on and a retaining recesses in a back surface of the facing blocks and a back surface of the backer blocks.

5. The modular wall system of claim 4, wherein the retaining recesses are oriented to extend vertical or horizontal in an installed condition of the blocks.

6. The modular wall system of claim 4, wherein the facing blocks have a base width W and the retaining structures in the facing blocks are spaced at 1 W.

7. The modular wall system of claim 6, wherein the retaining structures in the backer blocks are spaced at 1 W or less.

8. The modular wall system of claim 4, wherein the retaining structures are retaining recesses constructed as keyhole slots and each connector has a central portion with opposite, terminally positioned and enlarged terminal portions forming the first and second interlocking members respectively, or the retaining structures are retaining protrusions constructed as dovetail protrusions and each connector has a central portion with opposite terminal portions for respectively interlocking with one of the dovetail protrusions.

9. The modular wall system of claim 8, wherein the central portion is a planar central web and each interlocking member is shaped and constructed for interlocking engagement with a keyhole slot.

10. The modular wall system of claim 2, wherein the connectors have structures for interlocking with the filler material, for locking the wall components in place against lateral pressure of the material to be retained, through interaction between the filler material and the interlocking structures on the connectors.

11. The modular wall system of claim 10, wherein the structures for interlocking are ridges on the connectors and/or transverse passages through the connectors.

12. The modular wall system of claim 11, wherein a degree of interlocking between the structures for interlocking and the filler material is controlled by varying a coarseness of filler material.

15. The modular wall system of claim 1, wherein the setback plugs are incorporated into the connectors at the connecting ends.

13. A kit for constructing a freestanding retaining wall for retaining a loose material of a predetermined height, the retaining wall having a rear face for placement against the loose material to be retained, an exposed front face and a predetermined base width and total mass per unit length sufficient for maintaining the retaining wall upright against a pressure exerted by the loose material at the preselected height, comprising

X backer blocks and Y facing blocks, the facing blocks being stackable into a continuous front wall portion and the backer blocks being stackable into a continuous rear wall portion for placement against the material to be retained;

connectors for connecting the backer blocks with the facing blocks in a back to back arrangement for the front and rear wall portions to define an intermediate space for filling with loose filler material when the facing blocks and backer blocks are connected by the connectors in the back to back arrangement, the connectors each having a body with at least two connecting ends for respective interlocking engagement with a facing block and a backer block and each of the facing and backer blocks having multiple spaced apart retaining structures for respectively receiving one of the connecting ends, wherein the connector body is rod or web shaped for minimizing a volume taken up by the connectors in the intermediate space;

instructions for selecting a length of the connectors to adjust a volume of the intermediate space so that a mass of the filler material in the intermediate space together with a mass of the front wall portion and a mass of the rear wall portion adding up to at least the total mass, and for stacking the backer blocks against the material to be retained for the backer blocks to separate the facing blocks, the intermediate space and the loose filler material from the material to be retained;

one or more setback plugs for engagement with the retaining structures to create a setback for facing blocks or backer blocks in consecutive rows; and

an amount of loose filler material of a known density, the amount of loose filler material having an overall third mass constituting at least the remainder of the total mass.

14. The kit of claim 13, wherein X and Y are the same and the retaining structures are one of retaining protrusions on and retaining recesses in a back surface of the facing blocks and a surface of the backer blocks.